In recent years the flying of kites in Western nations has become an adult sport. As is well known, in years past kite flying in most western nations was restricted to the younger ages and generally occurred in the high wind spring days of March and April. Kites of the type used by children generally are relatively uncontrollable in that only a single line is affixed to the kite by a bridle or the like so that the kite flyer is at the mercy of the wind with lift for the kite being created by the wind passing over the airfoil shape of the kite. Further, stability in the kite was generally in the nature of a tail traditionally made of a long string of cotton cloth. All of these single line kites provide an untold amount of enjoyment among children but the lack of control of the kite itself causes interest to wane for the more mature kite flyer. Essentially the only interest left for a kite of this type is for a record height or amount of line utilized to fly the kite.
On the other hand kite flying in the Orient has traditionally been much more sophisticated with adults participating in the sport even to the extent of having competitions. In recent years the advent of sophisticated kite flying has penetrated the Western world and a rather large group of kite flying devotees has developed through the West. What has brought the interest in kite flying to a peak in the United States has been the introduction of control of the kite itself. In order to accomplish this it is necessary to have two or more lines connected to the kite so that the angle of attack of the airfoil formed by the kite may be varied resulting in components of lift other than upperwardly which is the usual effect of the single line kite. For example two lines affixed to the kite can result in relatively sophisticated control of the kite itself. Thus one can "fly" the kite to the right or left or up or down depending upon the tension placed on the respective right or left kite line. In short the kite is flown with two kite lines each controlled by handles with a line running from each handle to the kite. Movement of the handle by the kite flyer is transmitted through the line to the kite itself. When the aspect of the kite is changed relative to the airflow over the kite caused by the natural flow of the wind, the kite will move to relieve the different tensions on the two lines. To move the kite back to the original position the tension on the one line is relieved with tension on the other line increasing. Of course, if an equal amount of tension is provided on both lines then the kite will fly in a manner similar to a single-line kite.
Multi-line kites such as just described are well known in the art. The problem associated with a multi-line kite is the deployment of the two or more lines used to control the kite at the time of launching and also the retrieval of the lines once the kite has landed. Should care not be exercised the lines become tangled and in some instances unusable. With a dual line kite the operator usually is provided with two handles with a line affixed to each handle. Should the operator attempt to wrap the lines around the two handles the two lines will become twisted together and the operator must spend an inordinate amount of time untwisting the rather long control line before the next flight. On the other hand should the operator elect to rotate just the handles about their own axis and perpendicular to the axis of the lines to pick up the lines the retrieval time is excessive and requires either that the kite be firmly fixed so that tension can be maintained on the lines or alternatively a second person is necessary to feed the lines to the operator as the handles are turned about their own axis. It is to be understood that the difficulties described above are reversed upon deployment of the kite line.
Attempts to solve the above described problem generally revolve around dual reels somewhat in the manner of fishing reels and the like. While this may solve the take-up of the lines, it provides a cumbersome arrangement for the kite flyer simply because the duel reels usually must be disconnected while flying a kite with a handle in each hand. In one attempt to overcome the take-up and release of the kite lines, a horizontal reel has been built into a single control device so that the operator is able to control the kite with a single device similar to a tiller bar with the reel in the center portion of the tiller bar.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the deficiencies described above and in particular to provide removable handles that form a reel that allows rolling up of the kite line without tangling.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a kite line retrieval system that has relatively few moving parts.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a simple fast method for kite line retrieval. It is a further object of the invention to provide a means for securing the retrieved kite line to the device after the windup.
Broadly stated the invention is a control and take-up assembly for use with a multi-line kite and includes an axle, a pair of elongated handles each handle having affixed thereto at least one of the control lines. The device includes a way of removably affixing the elongated handles to the axle such that the axes of the handles are substantially parallel to the axis of the axle and displaced therefrom a distance at least equal to the radius of the axle.